...
By Maura Zurick
Weekend Night Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Republican Representative Chuck Edwards was called out on social media Tuesday after sharing a meme that blamed President Joe Biden for a large migrant caravan when he wasn't in office at the time.
Illegal border crossings have continued to surge in recent years, reaching a record-breaking high in 2023 when federal border agents encountered about 2.5 million migrants, surpassing the previous record high from 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
The photo in the meme is an Associated Press image of a large migrant caravan near Arriaga, Mexico, in October 2018 when former President Donald Trump was in the White House.
Read More
US Border Patrol Saw Significant Drop in Migrant Encounters in January3 min read
Criminals ‘Exploiting’ Northern Border, Local Border Council Leader Warns3 min read
How Many Migrants Are Crossing the Border?3 min read
The meme included a photo of Biden pointing at the migrant image with the text, "I did that."
Edwards' post on X amassed hundreds of replies where numerous social media users pointed out that the image was captured when Biden wasn't even in office.
Newsweek reached out via email on Tuesday night to Edwards' representatives for comment.
The Republican congressman, who serves as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th District, has been a vocal advocate for tougher policies and bolstering security along the southern border.
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the MeidasTouch Network website and a frequent Trump critic, shared a screenshot of Edwards' X post and called out the lawmaker for using an old image.
"This photo is from 2018 taken outside Arriaga, Mexico," Filipkowski wrote on X. "I think someone else was president then."
X user Murphy replied to the congressman's post, accusing Edwards of "trolling."
"Hey Congressman, the migration has been going on for decades," Murphy wrote on X. "Attempting to pin the blame on the current president tells me that you are just trolling here. You couldn't even bother getting a current pic and used an old one from several years ago... when Trump was President."
X user Josh Schwerin shared a screenshot of the AP photo, saying: "This is a photo from 2018 when Donald Trump was president."
Edwards appeared to defend the meme gaffe in a response to critics. The congressman replied to the thread and shared another photo of a large migrant caravan with the caption, "Satisfied?"
However, the second image fueled the backlash, with social media users quick to point out that the photo was taken in southern Mexico and nowhere near the U.S. border.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan bill intended to strengthen border security failed in Congress after Trump pressured Republicans to kill the $118 billion package that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as $20 billion for securing the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy changes.
While Trump, the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, called the deal a "horrible open borders betrayal of America," the former president's critics argued that he wanted to kill the bill so he could continue campaigning on the border strife.
After mounting conservative criticism, the Senate failed to meet the 60 votes needed for the bill to advance. Biden, who supported the bill, blamed Trump for the measure's failure, saying that the MAGA leader would "rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it."
...
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines